Can't launch illustrator MacOs Tahoe

[Anna ?mejkalov�]

Hi, I've just updated to MacOs Tahoe 26. MacBook Air M2. I can't launch Illustrator. Reinstalling the app from Creative Cloud didn't work 😕 There's clearly some problem (the question mark thing). What can I do please? Thank you so much! 🙂

[creative explorer]

@Anna ?mejkalov� I would click on Uninstall Adobe Illustor 2025. Then download Adobe Cleaner Tool from adobe's website,  to fix common issues, such as removing outdated Adobe software, cleaning corrupt files, and repairing host files for Adobe server connectivity. For good measure, you could double-check to see if the Preferences are removed form your MacBook. When I had my battery changed, and when I got it back, my preferences was 171 GB for some reason! Apple told me how, and right now it's 396kb! Library - Preferences (I kinda doubted Apple, so I made a copy of the Preferences folder just in case, and then selected all the stuff in the Preferences folder and deleted it all)

This is important and crucial, I restarted my MacBook, as restarting it means a nw set ofPreferences are created.

Now go back to Adobe.com and install Adobe illustrator again. This is also important and crucial, don't re-use the one you downloaded at first as this might be corrupted. Download a fresh one. Install it. 

 

[Anna ?mejkalov�]

Unfortunatelly, no success. 😔 It so strange! All other apps are fine. But thank you for trying to help me 🩷

[Ton Frederiks]

I would wait untill Tahoe is added to the systems supported by Illustrator.

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/system-requirements.html

[Anna ?mejkalov�]

Oh, too late. My bad 😞 I guess I will just wait and pray for an update. Thank you for the info!

[Monika Gause]

Before updating the operating system it is generally recommended to carbon copy your harddisk, because at any time something can go wrong. Apple of course will not tell you that - instead they just present you the button to update.

And if you do that, then you can just revert to the previous state, because a compatible Illustrator version will most probably at least take until Adobe MAX (end of October).

[HashtagUser]

Hi @Anna ?mejkalov�  i ran into the same issue, and thank goodness for your query.
I did run cleanup adobe suit and reinstalled illustrator and other apps, again. (as suggested by @creative explorer )
At first, it did not open quite well, but hey, it did open after some time! and it is working!

Don't try to open any previous file directly by double clicking. Rather, launch illustrator first and then go to File - open - select your file. Or, send your file to a friend running the older MacOS and ask them to save it as copy and send across.
Hope this helps. *crosses fingers*

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Anna ?mejkalov�, 

Thanks so much for sharing your observations here. I've checked this with the product team and we've been testing Illustrator 29.8.1 and 30.0 on macOS 26 without being able to reproduce the issue in our environments. A few things you can try that have helped other users are resetting Illustrator's preferences(manually) and relaunching, checking if Photoshop or InDesign launch normally since they use a different home screen version, running Illustrator in Safe Mode to see if a background conflict is causing it. If the issue persists after trying these steps, please let us know your macOS system locale and the default install language set in your Creative Cloud desktop app, so we can narrow this down further.

Really appreciate your patience while we investigate. 

Abhishek

[ediouro_6587 · Accepted solution]

I disabled the Wacom driver and Illustrator started working again. I saw this tip here on the forum.

[Anna ?mejkalov�]

@ediouro_6587 Haha might be me, thank you 🙂 yes, it solves the problem + Wacom has just released updated drivers a after reinstallation, these work in symbiosis with Illustrator 👌🏻🙂

[Armando RG · Accepted solution]

Works for me and think all wacom users have this problem. Thank you

[Anna ?mejkalov�]

Hello, @Abhishek Rao I am happy to report that I've been able to resolve the issue. 🥳

I spent many hours chatting with Adobe --> uninstalled and reinstalled Illustrator from the Creative Cloud app, choose to forget my preferences. And, most importantly, checked my Mac setting - apps launching on start and running on background automatically. In my case, it was incompatible (not ready for Tahoe) Wacom tablet driver running on background causing Illustrator to crash. I disabled it, removed and the issue, luckily, disappeared 🙏🏻

I hope it helps other people to - try to disable all background apps and enable them one by one to discover if some of them prevents Illustrator to launch. Thank you so much for your kind help and advice 😊

[daithí_mor · Accepted solution]

same here ----> this fixed it

I have wacom tablet driver installed.

Go to wacom download the newest drivers and install.

Then relaunch illustrator.

agus sin é!

[Christoph26310661ax25]

Uninstalling the wacom driver did the trick for me aswell. Thx! 

[DavidMFranks]

How I wish I'd known this before I let Adobe support trample all over my fonts and plugins - grrrrrr

[ElevatedRoast · Accepted solution]

After days of waiting 10-15 mins for Illustrator to launch within Mac OS Tahoe, I uninstalled / reinstalled / tried earlier version, but the solution that worked was installinf the Wacom driver for Tahoe.  Thank you, everyone for getting together on this.

https://www.wacom.com/en-us/support/product-support/drivers

[_scaryhouse]

Today my computer updated to the latest version of macOS and Illustrator won’t open. I’ve already tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program several times, using the beta version, opening it with Rosetta, and nothing works.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @_scaryhouse,

Thank you for sharing the details. I'm currently checking this issue with our product team to understand if there are any compatibility concerns with Illustrator on macOS 26. I will update you as soon as I have more information.

Thank you for your patience.

Abhishek

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @_scaryhouse,

Thanks for your patience. From your screenshot, it seems Illustrator launches, but the home screen doesn't appear. Could you check if the top menu (File, Edit, Illustrator, etc.) is responsive? Also, please confirm your system locale and the Default Install Language in the Creative Cloud Desktop app. On your Mac, go to Apple menu > System Settings > General > Language & Region to see the system locale, and in Creative Cloud, check Profile icon > Preferences > Apps > Default Install Language. Moreover, please confirm if you see this with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications like InDesign, Photoshop, etc, as well. Moreover, test the issue after resetting Illustrator Preferences manually. Refer the article: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html

Additionally, try launching Illustrator in Safe Mode to see if the issue persists: https://adobe.ly/42zMskO

Let us know what you find so we can investigate further.

Abhishek

[Zubair5C97]

Hi @Abhishek Rao. I'd like to know if it's safe to update to Mac OS 26? Will most of the common apps (Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects) work just fine?

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Zubair5C97,

Thanks for your query. Regarding Illustrator, I've tested it on my end with macOS 26, and it works fine. The issues being reported seem to be case-specific, and in those situations we’ll need to troubleshoot one by one. If you update and notice Illustrator not launching, I'd suggest starting by testing in Safe Mode to rule out any third-party app interference. Ref:

https://adobe.ly/41V3MAA

For Photoshop and After Effects, I'll be checking with the respective team representatives and will update you. In the meantime, I'd also recommend creating a post with your query in the Photoshop and After Effects communities here: https://adobe.ly/41VJQO4 and https://adobe.ly/3K2WvIZ.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

Abhishek

[Monika Gause]

Hi @Abhishek Rao. I'd like to know if it's safe to update to Mac OS 26? Will most of the common apps (Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects) work just fine?

By @Zubair5C97

Just watch this page: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/apps/system-requirements/apps-compatible-macos.html

If the system is not listed there, it's obviously not safe to update. 

Apparently Apple's new toy is working for some people and not working for a lot of others.

[Anubhav M]

Hello everyone,

Would you mind trying to manually reset Illustrator's preferences and checking if it helps:

For macOS

• Close all Adobe applications.

• Go to the following locations

• ~/Library/Caches

• ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe

• ~/Library/Preferences

• Rename Adobe Illustrator, com.adobe.illustrator and Adobe Illustrator 29 Settings folders to Adobe Illustrator.old, com.adobe.illustrator.old and Adobe Illustrator 29 Settings.old

• Launch Illustrator from the Creative Cloud.

Note: Location starting with this "~" sign indicates the User Library, which is hidden. So, you need to copy & paste the exact path in Spotlight search or from Finder Menu > Go > Go to Folder > Paste the location in the dialog box like this:

Disclaimer: Please note that renaming preferences folders will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also save a backup of the folders, the location of which is mentioned above.


Also, try the following steps and share your observations:

- Close all Adobe applications.

- Rename the UXP folder to UXP.old from the following location:

(macOS) Navigate to Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Adobe/UXP

- Relaunch Illustrator

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Zubair5C97]

@Monika Gause My computer automatically updated to MacOS 26. So far, everything seems to be running smoothly. In some instances, such as saving Illustrator files, it feels slightly quicker than before.

[Alessandra239563090p3x]

I have the same problem.
After the new update of MacOs, Illustrator doesn't work anymore.